No college football program has ever spent more on its coaching staff than Ohio State will in 2024. Gene Smith’s decision to authorize such spending was driven by the desire to see the Buckeyes get back to the heights where they belong.
Ohio State is set to pay its assistant coaches $11.425 million in base salary this season – over $2 million more than the Buckeyes paid out last season, when they already had the highest-paid assistant coaching staff in the country. Add that to Ryan Day’s total compensation, which is now over the $10 million mark, and OSU will spend well over $21 million in coaching salaries alone for the 2024 football season.
That prompted Smith to lightheartedly apologize to Ross Bjork, his soon-to-be successor, when talking about the football budget in an interview session at the Fawcett Center on Thursday. But as he approaches the end of his tenure as Ohio State’s athletic director in June, Smith wanted to make sure he did whatever was necessary to give this year’s Buckeyes a chance to win championships.
“I probably put a significant burden on Ross with the budget because I was playing poker with football. Went all in,” Smith said. “Where we are with football and not winning Big Ten championships, I wanted to make sure that we did everything we could to make sure football has a real chance next year.
“When I think about my legacy, so to speak, I think about that. I hate to leave when Ohio State football is not back to winning Big Ten championships.”
| COACH | TITLE | 2023 SALARY | 2024 SALARY | CHANGE | CONTRACT END |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CHIP KELLY | OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR/QUARTERBACKS COACH | $6,100,000 (@ UCLA) | $2,000,000 | -$4,100,000 | 2027 |
| JIM KNOWLES | DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR | $1,957,000 | $2,200,000 | +$243,000 | 2027 |
| KEENAN BAILEY | TIGHT ENDS COACH | $400,000 | $400,000 | $0 | 2026 |
| JUSTIN FRYE | RUN GAME COORDINATOR/OFFENSIVE LINE COACH | $1,000,000 | $1,000,000 | $0 | 2025 |
| MATT GUERRIERI | SAFETIES COACH | $400,000 (@ INDIANA) | $425,000 | +$25,000 | 2026 |
| BRIAN HARTLINE | CO-OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR/WIDE RECEIVERS COACH | $1,600,000 | $1,600,000 | $0 | 2026 |
| LARRY JOHNSON | ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH/DEFENSIVE LINE COACH | $1,166,990 | $1,400,000 | +$233,010 | 2026 |
| JAMES LAURINAITIS | LINEBACKERS COACH | $200,000 | $350,000 | +$150,000 | 2026 |
| CARLOS LOCKLYN | RUNNING BACKS COACH | $400,000 (@ OREGON) | $650,000 | +$250,000 | 2026 |
| TIM WALTON | ASSISTANT HEAD COACH/SECONDARY/CORNERBACKS COACH | $1,000,000 | $1,400,000 | +$400,000 | 2027 |
Ohio State has experienced no shortage of football success in Smith’s 19-year tenure as athletic director. In an hourlong conversation about his Ohio State career on Thursday, Smith named the Buckeyes’ national championship season in 2014 as one of his greatest memories. Since Smith took over the athletic department, Ohio State football has won double-digit games 17 times – the only times the Buckeyes didn’t were the pandemic-shortened season in 2020 and the 2011 season after Jim Tressel’s ouster – and won 12 Big Ten championships.
Over the last three years, however, Ohio State has gone 0-3 against Michigan and been left out of the Big Ten Championship Game as a result. Not wanting the end of his tenure to be defined by the football team’s shortcomings, Smith has done his part to help Day put his program in position to get back on top of the conference this year.
“I hate to leave when Ohio State football is not back to winning Big Ten championships.”– Gene Smith
With Day now entering his sixth season as head coach with a loaded roster and two coordinators making at least $2 million – defensive coordinator Jim Knowles and new offensive coordinator Chip Kelly – Smith is confident all the pieces are in place for the Buckeyes to have a special season even though he’ll no longer be leading the athletic department.
“My blessing in working with Ryan was really watching him over the years grow as a leader. Remember, he wasn't a head coach before,” Smith said. “I was at practice (this spring), whenever it was, and I'm watching him and Chip Kelly and Jim Knowles standing out there on the field and I'm like, ‘Okay, we're there.’”
